Mainstreet Theater - The AMC Era

The AMC Era

AMC Theaters, then known as Durwood Theatres, bought the theater in the late 1950s and reopened it in December 1960 as the Empire. The first film shown at the theater under the new name was Exodus. The standard seating configuration of the new Empire was reduced to 1260 in order to accommodate more modern amenities and technology upgrades. Under Durwood, the Empire began running the seamless 70 mm film version of Cinerama, replacing the three strip Cinerama. The 70 by 30-foot (9.1 m) Walker Hi Gain motion picture screen was designed to collapse, fold, and store on stage within two and a half hours to allow for quick conversion for live stage events. The stage curtain measured more than 120 feet (37 m) and claimed to be the largest in the world. In fitting with Kansas City's reputation as the "City of Fountains", the Empire included decorative fountains in the box office area and at the main staircase. The prominent signage suspended from scaffolding attached to roof of the building during the "Mainstreet" and "RKO Missouri" eras was removed when Durwood converted the theater to the Empire. The Empire did keep an organist until 1961, when there was a dispute with the musicians' union.

In 1967, the theater was split into two parts when a second theater was constructed in the former balcony of the original theater. In 1980 AMC converted the Empire into four theaters and it was known as Empire 4 Theaters. Two of the additional theaters were located in the upper level where the original balcony once existed. The Empire stopped screening films and closed in 1985.

In 1972, as a protest against what it called "cultural prejudices", the Italian American Unification Council in Kansas City spent $2,500 to purchase all the seats of the premier showing of Francis Ford Coppola’s film The Godfather at the Empire. While the film played to an empty house, the Council sponsored a benefit dance down the street.